Hope for Gowanus Canal?

Via the Gowanus Lounge, the Park Slope Courier reports that Senator Chuck Schumer has funds coming out of the Senate Appropriations Committee that are earmarked for an Army Corps of Engineers feasibility study to assess “environmental problems and potential solutions in the Gowanus Canal.”

The canal, which connects the Red Hook waterfront to the Park Slope-Carroll Gardens nabe (a.k.a. Gowanus), is currently a pollution-saturated, industrial nightmare. It’s got a certain beauty and charm, though, and once–if ever–it’s cleaned up, real-estate values in that area are certain to soar.

The money is for a study only, but the city’s D.E.P. says it’ll upgrade the canal’s flushing tunnel soon–beginning in 2008 and continuing for three to four years–which will hopefully get fresh water into the canal, making it more habitable for wildlife.